College Hoops Picks Feb. 3, 2009: Marquette Golden Eagles @ DePaul Blue Demons

Marquette Golden Eagles (8-0, 19-2) at DePaul Blue Demons (0-9, 8-14)

Tuesday, Feb. 3—9:00 PM EST

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Preview

The DePaul Blue Demons (0-9, 8-14) are on the verge of achieving an accomplishment that we rarely see—going 0-10 in conference play. At the start of every season, the college basketball community anxiously awaits to see which teams can start 10-0. At this point of the season, fans cringe at the mere thought of doing the inverse in conference play.

Marquette (No. 8 AP, No. 8 Coaches, 8-0, 19-2) has been on fire since the beginning of Big East play—they are undefeated and are showing no signs of slowing down. Their perfect run hasn't exactly led them through the cream of the crop, but they have faced some worthy opponents—knocking both Notre Dame and Georgetown out of the top 25.

Marquette is going to have their work cut out for them at the end of the season—they face some of the toughest teams in the Big East in a matter of days—but there is no denying that they are currently one of the best teams in the Big East.

This is the second time that these two have faced off—the first was a little over one week ago when Marquette defeated the Blue Demons by nine.

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Marquette	19-2	8-0	9-6-1	13	64	81.6	67.7
DePaul	8-14	0-9	4-12	201	92	65.9	70.1

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Marquette	46.9	43.1	36.6	32.5	72.1	38.7	8.2	16.0	12.0
DePaul	41.0	43.8	27.2	33.9	62.8	39.1	6.8	11.3	12.5

Prediction

Current Line: Marquette -10.0

Marquette ATS: 9-6-1, 8-5-1 when favored.
DePaul ATS: 4-12, 3-9 when underdog.

Marquette has an average margin of victory of 14 points this season, while DePaul sits at negative four. Perhaps more fascinating then that, though, is that the average points that the Golden Eagles allow is more then the Blue Demons score on average. The difference between Marquette and DePaul's offenses is 16 points.

With a line only favoring Marquette by 10, this seems like a no-brainer.

As I said above, this is the second time these two have played this season. The first was on Jan. 24, when DePaul covered the 17-point spread. What's changed since then, though, is that Marquette has defeated two tough Big East teams (Notre Dame and Georgetown), while DePaul suffered two major blows—a 22-point loss to UConn and a 19-point loss to Rutgers.

Marquette is very hot right now, while DePaul is definitely not.

Ryan's Pick: Marquette -10.0

*This article is also featured on CBBPlace.com*

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*